[4e] Adventures in the Planes - IC

[Hzurr]

DM Post

From the darkness surrounding Asheroth, the sickening sound of a blade meeting flesh sounds again and again. As the globe of darkness fades away, Asheroth stands alone, and the Draegloth dead at his feet.

Dashing into the room, Lucan can feel the energies biting into him (25 damage), but he ignores it to move closer to Zyrr, humming a quick song to help the drow overcome the curse of Lolth. As he runs, he fires two quick arrows at one of the mages, but the crackling energies are too distracting, and the shots don't strike as true as Lucan had hoped.

Pavick follows Lucan into the deadly room (25 damage), and with a curse on his lips sends a small portal hurtling through the air towards the surprised priestess, sealing her off in a demiplane of his own creation (one most likely filled with sunshine and butterflies).

Kneeling by the portal, Pavick attempts to re-direct it's energies, but even for one of Pavick's skill with the planes, this is extraordinarily advanced planar magic, and the gnome is unable to wrestle control of the portal away from the engine of the construct. Pavick suspects that had a lesser mage attempted this, they may have been ripped asunder from the energies of the portal. (OOC: Failed, but by less than 5, so you don't take damage from the failure)

Aramil takes a swing in the dark, but the two smaller hands of the Draegloth deflect the blade, and that slight growl warns Aramil of an onslaught of claws that will soon follow.

As Eltain says a quick prayer, he feels a divine wisdom settle upon him, guiding him towards the correct threads of magic flowing out of the portal. With small motions and incantations, the portal flickers and wavers, before blinking out and reforming with the sunlight of Arvandor flowing into the construct.

Teleporting across the room as he frees himself from Lolth's influence, Zyrr sends a dagger into the side of one of the archmages, opening him up for Zyrr's allies.

As the power of Arvandor flows into the engines, the spider construct begins to shake violently, as sparks and smoke begin flying from the engines. The machines begin glowing under the battling energies from both heaven and the Abyss, filling the room with popping sounds.

From the door to the North, one of the male drow from the del-kaine'toh runs in, yelling "What the hells have you don---AHHHHHHH" His words are cut off as an arc of power from the portal to Corellon flickers out and sends radiant energy pouring through the drow, reducing him to a pile of ash.

OOC: the ongoing damage in the room now applies to both drow and non-drow


The archmagi's eyes widen as the energy bites into them as well. ""Protect the portals!" one of them yells, both the the other mages and to the Draegloth.

The pair of oversized arms on the Draegloth reach for Aramil,trying to grab the swordmage and pull him in close. "I'll see to your wizard friend after I rip out your throat, little eladrin, how does that sound?" Yet the general of the Spring armies is two quick for such a clumsy attack, even in the dark, and casually ducks under the grasping claws.

The other two Draegloth carefully move around the portals to attack the creatures around the portals. One focus entirely on Eltain (not wanting to come too near the Tiefling that singlehandedly slaughtered on of his brothers, while the other splits his attention between Lucan and Pavick, uncertain which is responsible for trying to manipulate the portal. Lucan easily jumps back out of the way, but Pavick's sheild drops just a hair too soon and the creature's claws find him (35 damage). The Draegloth attacking Eltain can't seem to find a gap in the holy armor that surround the paladin, and Eltain remains unscathed.

The priestess tries to re-open the demiplane, yet fails as Pavick's curse holds on her.

One of the archmagi scrambles over to the new portal opened by Eltain, frantically trying to re-direct it back to the abyss, but without the aid of the priestess or his fellow mages, his efforts fall short.

The mage stabbed by Zyrr takes a step back, before summoning a spectral demonic claw that grabs Zyrr suspends him in the air, while the other mage (whose eyes widen as he recognizes Pavick) bends reality and teleport sPavick behind the other Draegloth (Pavick is dazed).

MAP:

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Init:

Asheroth
Lucan (25 damage)
Eltain ()
Aramil ()
Pavick (25 +35 damage, dazed (save ends))
Zyrr (25 damage, grabbed, suspended in air)

Draegloth (
Priestess (enemies within 5 of her take -2 to defenses) Sequestered
Archmagi Q12:(63+25,bloodied) L17: (29+25+33, bloodied, enemies gain CA & sneak attack) S15 (29+25+28, bloodied)

Rolls

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Draegloth
Grab vs. Aramil's Fort: (1d20+19)[24]+2CA
(if grab succeeds) Minor - Bite vs Aramil's Ref: (1d20+23)[41]+2 CA - Damage: (5d6+18)[39] & Aramil gains vulnerable 15 all (save ends)

Claw vs. Pavick's AC: (1d20+23)[38] Damage: (2d12+22)[35]
Claw vs. Lucan's AC: (1d20+23)[30] Damage: (2d12+22)[39]
Claw vs. Eltain's AC: (1d20+23)[33] Damage: (2d12+22)[34]

Priestess: Save vs: Sequester (1d20-2)[6]

Archmage:
G14: Attempt to re-direct the portal: (1d20+30)[36]

M18: Demonic Grasp vs Zyrr's Fort - (1d20+27)[39] Hit: Zyrr is immobilized & suspended 1 square up (save ends both). While affected by this, whenever the target or one of its allies deals damage to a demon or drow, the target takes 10 poison damage

S15: Cruel Banishing vs Pavick's Fort: (1d20+27)[36] Hit: Pavick is teleported 7 squares & dazed (save ends)

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan -- Half-elf bard

Seeing that Pavick is under attack, Lucan bends fate to protect him.

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Immediate Interrupt
Use Virtue of Prescience
Pavick gains +6 to all defenses until the start of his next turn
Karmic Strike
Zyrr gets a free basic attack against the Draegloth

[dariathalon]

Pavick – Gnome Wizard
HP 79/104, AC 38, Fort 31, Reflex 36, Will 34
Remember: Pavick should still be in T18

Pavick feels the flow of familiar arcane energy wash around him, and he glances up from his work on the portal just in time to see two attacks that by all rights should have hit him be deflected by Lucan's magic. "Thanks," he calls out cheerily to the bard.

He looks up at the draegloth in front of him and releases a quick blast of brightly colored lights toward the beast, before bending down again to return to his work. The mass of sigils around this portal was quite complicated, but he had confidence if he could just alter the right ones he could rewire it.

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Standard: Color orb on Draegloth in V/W-15/16. Attack vs Will - (1d20+26)[35] Hit does Radiant damage - (3d8+12)[30] and dazes him until the end of my next turn.

Move: Attempt to redirect the portal again. Arcana - (1d20+32)[35] (Again +4 more if Study of the Planes helps)

[Orsik Vondal]

Asheroth Durant
HP 98/134 (11 Temp) Surges 12/12
AC 38 FORT 34 REF 30 WILL 37

When the globe of darkness falls, Ash beholds the carnage is blade has wrought with sober eyes. This battle was far from over.

He can feel the shift in the atmosphere as Eltain redirects the energy portal to Arvandor. That would prove useful as the fight wore on. But that drow wizard was trying to undo the change Eltain had worked in the portal. Ash could not let that happen. Also in his vision is another draegloth menacing his friend. He could not strike at both in the next few moments, but he could make the wizard think twice about staying near the portal and give Eltain a little support.

Ash raises his left hand in a slow and purposeful motion. It appears as if he is trying to lift a cannonball, but it is not metal in his palm. It's fire. Suddenly between the wizard and the draegloth a swirling vortex of intense flames explodes into being. Flames crash against their bodies as the maelstrom quickens. For a moment Ash locks eyes with the wizard and slowly shakes his head, face stoic.

"Stay back and stay down. Enough lives have been lost this day. We may be able to get you out through the portal my companion has erected." Ash whispers to the "day-walkers". He directs the cowering would-be sacrifices to get against the wall of the construct and stay low as he steps beside the altar ready to bring the fight to the meddling mage.

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Standard action: Vortex of Fire Area burst 1 centered on F13 (E12-G14)
wizard in G14 (1d20+28)[37] vs. REF
draegloth in E11-F12 (1d20+28)[36] vs. REF
on a hit each takes (3d8+32)[42] fire damage.
Area is a zone of fire UEONT. Creatures that end their turn in the zone take 10 fire damage and are slowed UEONT. (minor action sustains the zone UEONT; move action moves the zone 3 squares)

Minor action: Direct sacrifices to huddle along the wall

Move action: Move to G20

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain - 113/128 41/33/37/40

Eltain feels a brief rush of exultation as Corellon's divine guidance fills him and he successfully redirects the portal, but he knows the work isn't even close to over. He eyes the mage trying to undo his work and the Draegloth that's far too close to the prisoners. Well, he knew a trick or two for that. He suddenly vanishes again, only to reappear across the room.

"It's not too late to convert! Corellon loves all His children." He looks at the Draegloth. "Well, perhaps not you." He shakes his head and summons the arcane abilities granted to him by his god, drawing upon the power of both Corellon and the Feywild Winter that flows through his blood. He thrusts out his hands and a sudden blast of snow and ice fills the room, stopping just short of the prisoners and sending the mage and draegloth sliding towards the portal.

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Free: Activate property of Frost Longsword because why not.
Move: Ethereal Stride to G17
Minor: Curse the Archmage
Standard: Roaring Storm of Cania, Close Blast 5, creatures in blast. Will affect Archmage and Draegloth:
(1d20+25)[34] vs Archmage's Reflex
(1d20+25)[28] vs Draegloth's Reflex
On hit: (2d8+21)[29] cold damage, and the target falls prone.
Miss: Half damage.
Effect: I slide each target up to 3 squares. Archmage to E16, Draegloth to E/F 14/15 (Based on what you said on Twitter about the four dangerous squares being the four around the center of the symbol; E/F 15/16 are the closest to that. If different, I'll adjust accordingly)
Warlock's Curse damage: (3d6)[12] If I miss one I'll apply to the one I hit, if I hit both I'll apply it to the Archmage.

End of turn: 88/128 41/33/37/40

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf bard
AC 35 Fort 30 Ref 30 Will 37 HP 103/128

Seeing that Zyrr's in trouble, Lucan sends an arrow winging his way. Then, with a quick song, he sends healing to both Zyrr and Pavick. Belatedly realizing how dangerous his location is, Lucan gets out of the way.

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Standard
Use Graceful Opening on drow at L17
Attack v Ref - (1d20+30)[46] (includes combat advantage)
Damage - (5d8+8)[26] (includes damage from sneak in the attack)
On hit, Zyrr can make a save. Also, if the mage at S15 provides cover to the archmage at L17, he takes 5 damage from howling songbow's property.

Minor
Use Majestic Word on Zyrr and Pavick
They each regain surge+22 hp and 8 temp hp

Move
North until he's not taking damage anymore. Jump over hostage if necessary.

[Mando Knight]

Aramil
HP 146/166 Surge 41, 11/11
AC 42 Fort 33 Ref 38 Will 33
Resist All 5, Cold 15

The demon had failed to properly take advantage of its darkness. Good. That would be its undoing. Teleporting back to where he had previously stepped, he slashed at the draegloth with one hand while reached out towards its counterpart with the other. Bolts of lightning lashed out of his fingertips, and using them like electric whips, he pulled at the demon and the archmage near it. Then, he summoned the power of his Aegis, to forbid Lolth's minions from slowing their demise.

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Move: Fey Step to V20. Feywild Flanker: the south Draegloth grants CA until the end of Aramil's next turn. Cloak of Translocation: Defense bonus active. Fey Tactics: if there's an ally within 5 of Aramil's starting location, they can teleport 6 (first come first served, else possibly one of the slaves?). Eladrin Swordmage Advance: MBA vs the south Draegloth.
Attack vs AC - (1d20+31)[43] (CA and Circlet of Mental Onslaught included)
Damage - (2d8+19)[28]

Standard: Ensnaring Bolts north, in a manner that both the Draegloth and the Archmage are covered in the attack. Cover not included. Attacks vs Ref.
Draegloth - (1d20+26)[33]
Archmage - (1d20+26)[31]
Hit: Lightning Damage - (1d10+16)[21], and pulled 3 squares.

Minor: Aegis of Assault on all enemies within 2 squares (Total Aegis).

[Hzurr]

Zyrr - Drow Rogue
AC:34, Fort:27, Ref:37, Will:32

As Lucan bends fate for Pavick, Zyrr tosses a quick dagger at the Draegloth as fortune bends

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ranged vs AC (1d20+27)[47](includes range penalty) Damage: (1d4+28)[29] Crit:8+28+10=46 damage

Another quick shot by Lucan, and Zyrr can feel the demonic claw around him dissipate. Landing, he spins the dagger in his hand with a flourish. Feinting to the left, Zyrr whirls around to the right and plants the dagger firmly in his back.

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Minor: Perfect Feint.
Standard: Backstab - (1d20+32)[51]
Damage: [roll]2d4+3d6+5d8+28[/roll] 1+3+12+51=67 damage

End-of-Round:
HP: 106-25-40(one attack by Pavick, 2 by Asheroth, one by Eltain) from claw + 26(HS)+22 = 89+8 THP

[Hzurr]

DM Post

As Pavick surprisingly stays un-moved thanks to Lucan's enchantments, he quickly unleashes a dazzling burst of light at the Draegloth in front of him, before returning his attention to the portal. Again, what should be a relatively simple task for a mage of Pavick's skill proves to be too difficult somehow. It's unlike Pavick to have performance issues, and if word of this got out to the other wizards...

Asheroth, meanwhile, unleashes a storm of fire on the two causing the Draegloth to wince and the mage to scream in pain. The burning sensation is shortlived, however, as Eltain follows it up with a blast of ice. The archmage's pain is quickly brought to an end as his body shatters under the onslaught of fire and ice. The Draegloth finds himself on his back, straining at the portal that threatens to pull him through

Lucan sends an arrow through the drow summoning the Spectral claw on Zyrr, and the claw falters, giving Zyrr an opportunity to throw a dagger at the Draegloth. Moments later, a burst of healing surges through both Zyrr and Pavick, cleansing their wounds even as the energy from the portal saps their strength.

Zyrr, free of the demonic claw, whirls around behind the mage and plants a dagger in his back. The mage's eyes roll back, before crumpling to the floor

The construct engine, still straining under the stress of the two warring portals calms slightly as the blood of the fallen drow mage soaks the portal to Arvandor, fueling the mystical energies that power the construct.

The two Draegloth on either side of Aramil fly into a rage, and claw at the swordmage, blood and spittle flying from their gaping maws. One attempts to grab the sword mage, while the other (remembering how futile that was) simply flies into a flurry of claws, trying to find a gap in Aramil's defenses, but none come close to touching the swordmage.

With a gasp, the priestess claws her way back into reality. Taking a quick moment to survey the dead bodies and portal to Arvandor, she gives a curse. "I'll kill us all before I'll let you disrupt the conquest of the Spider-Queen." Glancing at the surviving mage, her eyes glisten. "Kill the leg-workers"

The mage's eyes widen, but he quickly rushes to do as he's told, and darts into the far hallway, and fires a magic missile, killing one of the drow manning the construct legs.

As the mage moves to obey, the priestess turns to yell over her shoulder towards the head. "Turn off the Gravity!"

With a lurch, you feel the floor start to shift, and lose bits of gravel and blood begin rolling down towards the base of the spider

OOC: At the start of the next round, Gravity will re-assert itself towards the bottom of the spider. If you aren't braced against a wall, you'll take falling damage as normal (so, for example, if Asheroth stays where he is he'll drop 55 feet)

MAP:

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Init:

Asheroth
Lucan
Eltain (25 damage)
Aramil ()
Pavick (25 damage)
Zyrr (25 damage)

Draegloth E11: (32+25+14 & dazed while he's in the portal squares & prone) W30 (25+30 (dazed)+46+21, bloodied) V21: 28
Priestess I23:(enemies within 5 of her take -2 to defenses)
Archmagi S15 (29+25+28, bloodied)

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Draegloth:
Grabbing Aramil: (1d20+19)[28]-2 dazed
Draegloth: Claw Attacks vs AC:
(1d20+23)[32] Damage: (2d12+22)[34]
(1d20+23)[28] Damage: (2d12+22)[37]

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain - 63/128 41/33/37/40

Eltain nods to Asheroth before suddenly vanishing and reappearing most of the way across the room, calling to the prisoners on the other side.

"Get against something before you fall!"

Catching sight of his prey, he regretfully leaves the priestess unmolested for now and vanishes to reappear behind the mage.

"I don't think so."

He gestures quickly, a beam of frigid ice striking out towards the mage. Unfortunately, the mage's reflexes are too good and he easily dodges Eltain's attack.

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Minor: Use Incisive Dagger's daily power to teleport to P14
Move: Ethereal Sidestep to R7
Standard: Lash of the Long Night:
(1d20+25)[29] vs Fort
On hit: (2d6+21)[26] cold damage and he's slowed(save ends) and pushed 7 squares to T15. He also gets vulnerable 5 cold and I have CA on him if it hits.

[Orsik Vondal]

Asheroth Durant
HP 98/134 (11 Temp) Surges 12/12
AC 38 FORT 34 REF 30 WILL 37

Ash gives a toothy grin and a thumbs up to Eltain. "Excellent work, my friend! Now go stop that pesky wizard from dooming us all! I'll handle the ugly one."

For a moment all sound is suppressed in Ash's ears. His vision tunnels. He begins to see tongues of flame lick the edges of his sight, but again remembers the Avatar's words. The flames recede and are replaced by dazzling rays of luminance. When his vision clears and sound returns, Ash can feel the wings he has worn before move and flex with anticipation. Yet, without even turning his head to see, he knows they are different than before somehow. The infernal energy that had fueled his transformation felt less powerful. Something else had replaced it. A warmth. A radiance. He did not know from where it came, but he did not scorn it.

"You may have noticed that your brother no longer lives. You will soon join him in the Abyss!" Ash's Blade flashes down toward the draegloth, but Ash does not stay to marvel at his handiwork. He knows if he remains here, he will fall a good way. His wings beat against the air, and he retreats around the corner as the weight shifts toward the far side of the construct.

"Brace yourselves!" he calls to the day-walkers as he awaits the inevitable gravity shift.

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Minor action: "Spined Devil's" Boon Ash gains a fly speed of 6 for the rest of the encounter.

Standard action: Curse of the Fiery Soul on draegloth (1d20+27)[29] vs. FORT
on a hit (3d10+32)[55] fire damage; any enemy that ends its turn within two squares of the target takes 5 fire damage

Move action: Fly to H23 and get ready to stand upright on the side of the wall.

[dariathalon]

Pavick – Gnome Wizard
HP 87/104, Surges 9/10 (I think this is right...)
AC 38, Fort 31, Reflex 36, Will 34

Pavick continues to work on the portal in front of him, paying little heed to the priestess' commands about the gravity. If worst came to worst, he knew his ring would protect him.

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I'll try this first, then take the rest of my action in a moment based on the results.
Arcana - (1d20+32)[33] (Possibly +4 more from Study of the Planes)

But he continues to struggle uselessly against the magic. There must be some trick to it that had him stumped. It was like a knot that just refused to untie.

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

Pavick looked up at the two draegloths, frustration creasing his brow. "Hey you two, tall dark and uglies. Go stand over there and tear each other to shreads, okay? Thanks." Along with his words, he weaved a simple enchantment to befuddle their minds and turn them against each other.

He turns his attention to the fey prisoners, "And you all, up against the wall there. Things are about to get all topsy turvy and you don't want to be without a wall to lean against." Pavick points to the wall at the rear of the spider.

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Move action: Already wasted, see last post.

Standard action: Mass charm centered on Aramil. Effect: Both draegloths slide up to 5 squares. Send the one closest to Pavick to T/U-21/22 and the other to Q/R-23/24. They then make MBAs against each other.

Pavick has a Ring of Lesser Feather Fall so will not take damage from the fall.

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf Bard
AC 35 Fort 30 Ref 30 Will 37 HP 78/128

"Get against the wall!" Lucan shouts to the eladrin. "Down's about to become that way!" He waves in the proper direction. He checks over his shoulder to see how Pavick is doing with the portal. Not good. With a sigh, he makes a decision, and hopes he doesn't regret it.

"Get him, Yuri!" Lucan shouts as he moves into the next room.

"For the revolution!" Yuri calls as he threatens the drow.

He sings a quick refrain of healing for both himself and Eltain. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you," he says to the priestess, and his music becomes powerful and commanding. And finally, with a burst of speed, he turns his arrows on the drow mage attempting to kill his own allies.

All his attacks spent, he readies himself for the fall.

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Move
Lucan moves to Q11
Yuri moves to Q7

Minor
Use Majestic Word on Lucan and Eltain
Regain surge + (4d6+12)[25] hp + 8 temp hp

Action Point
Standard
Use Song of Discord on Priestess
Attack v Will - (1d20+26)[39]
On hit, she's dominated
Hit or miss, she makes a basic attack against herself

Standard
Use Twin Strike on archmage
Attack v AC - (1d20+28)[38] + 2 CA (since Yuri's adjacent)
Damage - (2d10+9)[15]
Attack v AC - (1d20+28)[47] + 2 CA (Yuri adjacent)
Damage - (2d10+9)[24]

Fated Action Reroll - (1d20)[18]
I'll apply this to my first missed attack, if it's higher.

I decided it would be better to fall out of the room, and take 2d10 damage, than remain in the room and take another 25 damage.

[Mando Knight]

Aramil
HP 146+10t/166 Surge 41, 11/11
AC 42 Fort 33 Ref 38 Will 33
Resist All 5, Cold 15

Upon hearing the Priestess's order, Aramil decides to do something that he knows he'll probably regret. Teleporting behind the Draegloth that he figures would fall on top of him, he makes a calculated attack against the demon, hoping to use its body as a cushion as they fall.

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Move: Armathor's Step to V23. +2 power bonus to Aramil's next attack roll against the Draegloth. Feywild Flanker: the Draegloth grants CA until the end of Aramil's next turn. Cloak of Translocation: Defense bonus active.

Standard: Master's Surge Learned Boost Booming Blade on the Draegloth. Learned Boost is not expended.
Attack vs AC - (1d20+32)[50]
Hit: Damage - (6d8+21)[59], and if the Draegloth starts its turn next to Aramil and moves away, it takes 2d6+13 Thunder damage (save ends) (If Master's Surge and Learned Boost apply to this damage as well, it's 6d6 instead). Rose King's Shield: Aramil gains 10 temp HP. White Lotus Defense: Aramil gains +1 to defenses against the Draegloth until the start of his next turn. Arcane Underpinning: Aramil gains +1 to arcane attack rolls until the end of his next turn.
Miss: Reliable (Master's Surge is not expended)

Immediate Reaction: Surf the demon Acrobatics - (1d20+13)[20]

[Hzurr]

Seeing the archmage, priestess, and Draegloth's firmly in hand, Zyrr moves over to finish off the Draegloth struggling against the portal that Eltain re-directed.

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Move: To F13
Attack - Backstab: 1d20+34=50 (see OOC thread) vs AC
Damage: (2d4+29)[33]+(3d6)[12]+(5d8)[30]

[Hzurr]

DM Post

As Eltain teleports the room, the shifting gravity proves just disorienting enough to throw the Paladin's aim off, and the mage ducks the blast.

Even as the wings sprout from Asheroth's back, he can tell without looking that they aren't the rough leather of fiend's wings that he is used to, but something different. Unfortunately, this new change is not enough to give him the ability to strike the half-demon on the ground as Asheroth moves for cover.

It's unclear whether it's simply the power of the engine, the stress of the situation, or simply the lingering horror of what has happened to the feywild, but Pavick's focus slips again. This time, something goes horribly, horribly wrong, and the portal slips not only out of Pavick's control, but out of the confines of the mechanical construct it was powering. As the portal starts expanding, Pavick is able to throw himself to the side at the last moment, and avoid falling into the demonweb pits below. Even as Pavick directs the Draegloth to attack each other, the gnome has a sinking feeling of what's to come from this undulating portal.

Even as Pavick's luck fails, Lucan's is still strong as he not only manages to bend the mind of the Priestess and send her stumbling towards the portal to the Abyss, but sends two quick arrows into archmage.

Aramil quickly teleports into a position next to the Draegloth, and with a flash of his blade slices the demon's head clean from it's shoulders.

Likewise, across the room, Zyrr dashes out of the center room and plunges his blade into the prone Draegloth's back, killing the creature struggling against the energies of Arvandor before bracing against the pillar.

The portal continues to pulse and vibrate, and even as the priestess dominated by Lucan dives into it, the portal explodes outwards, ripping apart the construct in every direction, sending every creature on that half of the construct flying out into the boughs of Senailesse.

------ Zyrr and Asheroth ---

You're knocked flat on your back as the construct twists and shakes, and before your very eyes a third of the construct is gone, opening up into the blackened skies of the feywild. The spider-construct is no longer moving, the six legs remaining having locked in place as the engines were blown apart. As far as you can tell, the only creatures left in the construct are the few drow working the legs and head who were fortunate enough to be outside the blast radius, and a handful of the eladrin who were to be sacrificed.

Peering out through the hole, you can see the drow encampment thousands of feet below you. The construct groans and starts to shift slightly, you doubt it will remain stationary for long.


------------ Aramil, Eltain, Pavick, and Lucan (and Yuri) ------

The portal explodes around you, showering you with flying debris and making the world turn white. ((5d10)[26] damage)

It takes a moment for you to come to your sense, but when you do, you realize that you are falling.

Falling very fast.

The ground is still a few thousand feet below you, but it is quickly growing larger as you fall along side the massive tree trunks of Senailesse.

(OOC: 8 rounds til you hit the ground)

[Hzurr]

DM Post

OOC - For the people falling:

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Ok, for those PCs falling, we'll be running this as a modified skill challenge. Basically, each individual PC needs to make anywhere from 1-3 successes before acquiring 2 failures. I say 1-3 because depending on if what you're doing is easy or difficult, it may require more than one check. So, for example, Eltain trying to Summon and Mount Frank while falling is fairly easy, so it will probably require a check to mount him, and a check to steer out of the freefall since neither of those are difficult checks as Frank is a trained, flying mount. For something more difficult (like Pavick shattering his ring of featherfall to harness all the levitation magic stored in it for one sustained burst of flight), that's significantly more difficult, but would only require one check.

If you wish to help other people, you can spend an action trying to help another person, and if you succeed it counts towards one of their successes, but if you fail it counts towards one of your failures (because you wasted time trying to save someone and now you've fallen significantly further)

Using standard DCs for this level: Easy - 19, Moderate - 26, Difficult - 35.

For the people in the construct:

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You aren't in a skill challenge, but you are still racing against the clock because that spider construct isn't going to stay there long. If you want to jump out and try to help the people falling, you'll join the skill challenge above. If you want to do anything else (rescuing hostages, exploring other parts of the construct you didn't get to before, etc), you've got 2 rounds of stability, and after that I'll roll a saving throw for the construct every round to see if it falls.

Let me know in the OOC thread if you have questions.

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf bard

Lucan remembers flying. Wings folded behind his back as he dove, suddenly unfurling as his claw wrapped around his prey and he lifted off, plucking the succulent lamb from the supposed safety of his pasture.

He opens his eyes to look at the rapidly approaching ground. It's much harder to fly without wings, but . . . he notices that as he spreads his arms, he seems to slow, while if he brings them close to his body he goes faster. If only he had a little more control. The first step was to get rid of the bulky armor, transforming it into . . . what sort of clothes would make it easier to fly? Perhaps clothes with wings. Trying to picture it in his mind, to remember the shape of his wings, the feel of them, he tries to transform his armor into clothes with tough, leathery material stretching out underneath his arms.

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Use Imposter's Armor, to turn the armor into clothes with wings, sort of like a wingsuit. Not looking to actually fly here, so much as to gain a bit more control over the falling.

Nature - (1d20+21)[27]

[Orsik Vondal]

Ash had to move quickly. His friends were falling, and soon he would be too. Not only that, but there were innocents, as well, to save. He peered down at the huddled sacrifices. There was nothing for it. His comrades would have to wait. They were powerful enough to save themselves, but these were not battle-hardened warriors. These were innocent lives that needed a protector. A savior.

"Don't worry! I will get you out of here!" Ash yells. He looks around for Zyrr who dashed into his vision just before the explosion. "Captain! Can you see that branch down there? Just to the left." Ash points to thick limb jutting out from the trunk of the great tree. "That is our target! Help me save these innocents! Then we can worry about our friends!"

He hops down to the altar as gently as he can and scoops up the most frightened person he sees, a crying eladrin woman that has gone visibly pale with shock. "Come with me. I will take you to safety. Hold tight and do not let go until I say." She nods weakly and pulls Ash close. He wraps her in the strongest one-armed owlbear hug he can and slowly breathes out. This was a risky plan, but the only one he had right now.

Looking out of the gaping hole of the teetering construct is a bit surreal, and a little voice in the back of Ash's head reminds him that he should never, but probably will, do something this foolish ever again. And he jumps out into vacant space. Aiming for the branch that is their safety. Once he clears the mangled edges of the spider, he unfurls his wings, and they begin to beat ferociously against the air.

Knowing if he misses the branch that it's all downwind from there, Ash tries to steer himself toward the trunk of the tree. If he can get close enough, he can score the trunk with his blade to slow their descent and gain more control over their direction.

"Hold on!" Ash screams as the tree closes in. The next few moments were critical.

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Insight - (1d20+24)[28]

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

Pavick was momentarily stunned by the shock of the explosion. When he came to his senses, he was falling. Falling! What?!?! His heart skipped a few beats before he remembered his ring. It would save him from sudden impact with the ground.

He looked down below him. Oh, drow army, right. Well, the ring would protect him from the ground, but not from the army of angry drow that would surround him if he landed there. Damn.

He continued to watch the ground below him, when he saw a fey pidgeon that had apparently survived the assault by staying high in the branches. It was flying directly under him at a leisurely pace. "Look out below, little birdie!" Pavick called down.

The sudden sound attracted the bird's attention and it looked up at the falling mage with a startled squak. Pavick sensed the feybird's next action. Most animals in the feywild had innate abilities to punch small holes through the fabric of space. He quickly cast an arcane tether at the bird, hoping to be pulled with it through its teleportation to the safety of the nearest branch.

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Let's see if this works. Arcana - (1d20+32)[52]

I have a few ideas for helping others to safety as well, but I figured I'd give them a chance to post for themselves first.

[Hzurr]

DM Post

As Lucan's armor transforms, the gliding seems...oddly familiar to the bard, as if something he had once done in a dream. It's a bit awkward, yet somehow Lucan seems to take to it naturally, and finds himself no longer falling wildly, but in a more controlled decent.

OOC: That's one success for Lucan, he'll need at least one more

------

As Asheroth pulls the Eladrin woman close and jumps, the thick magical trees of the feywild seem more difficult to puncture with his sword than he initially intended, and the decent takes a bit longer than he intended. However, he is able to get the Eladrin woman to safety, but finds himself further down from the construct than he would like.

OOC: It'll take Asheroth a full round to get back up into the construct

--------

With a quick weave of power and dexterity that surprises even Pavick (why couldn't the flows have come this naturally when dealing with the portal), Pavick lassos a nearby flame-red hawk soaring through the air, following it even as it folds space.

Pavick suddenly finds himself in a nest, looking up at a very confused feybird, surrounded by half a dozen eggs.

OOC: Pavick is safe, and doesn't need to make any more checks to save himself.

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf bard

Lucan attempts to use his wings to reach Yuri. "Lean left," the voice in his ear suggests, and Lucan rolls to his left. More suggestions came, and even as he followed them, he could remember flying like this, the wind rushing beneath his wings as he twisted and turned through the sky. Soon he was diving like a dragon, swooping to a landing on the panicking Yuri's back.

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Acrobatics - (1d20+17)[35]

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf bard

Yuri has finally stopped screaming--a wild sound, somewhere between a neigh and a human scream. He's still kicking wildly, trying unsuccessfully to find traction on the air. Lucan's thankful, as now he can hear himself think, and not just the dark voice inside his head suggesting that Yuri would stop screaming if he were eaten.

Now, though, Yuri appears to be muttering to himself. Lucan leans in close to listen above the sound of the rushing wind.

"Is that . . . Are you praying?"

"Nyet! Of course not!" Yuri shouts. "I am a good communist, comrade!" He mutters something to himself that Lucan doesn't catch.

"What was that?" Lucan asked.

"I said, 'Move your imperialist, capitalist-fascist porcine, Corellon-worshipping butt and save us!'" Yuri shouts.

"Oh, right!" Lucan says. "Lena, rope!"

Lena, whose been hiding in Lucan's pack, emerges with a length of rope. She shelters from the wind behind Lucan and Yuri as Lucan wraps it around Yuri, tying a length around his own waist. He makes a loop with the other end.

"Now all I have to do is get this loop over a branch," Lucan says.

"At this speed, if you're pulled to a sudden stop, you'll break every bone in your and Yuri's bodies," Lena points out.

"Really?" Lucan asks. "I mean, I knew that. We just need to find a branch flexible enough to bend and break our fall slowly, but sturdy enough to hold." He peers down, trying to spot a good branch, one that's close enough to the course of their fall for Lena to reach, and far enough to give her time to get in position.

"There!" he says, pointing. "Put it around that one!"

"If you're sure," Lena says as she flies off to snag the branch.

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Perception - (1d20+23)[42]
Perception - (1d20+23)[35]
(re-roll and use the highest from Preternatural Senses)

[Orsik Vondal]

Ash sets the eladrin female down gently on the wide branch near the trunk, and looks into her eyes. "Stay here. I will be back for you. I promise." Ash vaguely notices how beautiful she is, but immediately pushes that thought from his mind. There were more important things to think about.

As he turns his face toward the mangled construct, his chest constricts. The legs were beginning to lose their hold on the trunk. Help me! I need it now!, Ash mentally screams to someone, anyone. And then a thought occurs to him.

He jumps into the sky and streaks for the construct. As he enters the gaping hole blasted in the hull, he reaches out to the Nine Hells and calls a hideous creature forth to aid him.

"What do you want n--"

"Shut up, Keezul, and listen to me! You are going to assist me, or so help me gods, I will make it my mission to destroy you forever! Got it!?"

Keezul flinches in the radiance of Ash's horns and nods meekly. "I'm going to take him down to that branch!" Ash yells as he points to the eladrin and the branch out the hole. "You get over there and help the Captain get those two prisoners out! Whatever he needs you to do, you do it! Understand!?"

Keezul nods again. "Now go!" Ash moves toward the second prisoner, an "aging" eladrin man, if you can say that, and the whole construct lurches slightly toward the bottom of the tree. He was running out of time...If this construct fell, he would have precious little time to escape before gravity imprisoned him in this adamantine tomb!

"Oh, gods help me...", and he reaches for the eladrin man.

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain makes a quick mental inventory of positions. Pavick was safe, Lucan... Well, that wasn't going to go well, but up was a better direction than down. Asheroth and Zyrr had been on the other side of the construct. That left him and Aramil, and him too far from Aramil to do anything. He swears loudly, though the sound is carried away by the rushing wind around him. There was nothing to try except to summon Frank and try to get on mid-air, and Frank couldn't bear both him and Aramil in this sort of situation. For that matter, even summoning Frank was going to be problematic. He'd have to modify the summon and do it just right, or he'd fall right past Frank before either of them could even react, or worse, slam into him at... However fast he was falling. That wouldn't go well for either of them. Then he'd have to fight the rushing air to get on. He doubted teleporting would help under these circumstances. By the time he could pick out a place to go he'd be falling past it and out of range. All he could do was concentrate and pray.

Corellon... Help me. I don't want anyone to die here, and I don't want to die either, although if it helps me save them I will...

He focuses himself and draws on his knowledge of the divine powers he's channeled all his life to try to summon Frank below him and falling at the same speed. It works, but just barely. He swallows and tries to pull himself into a better position to try to make it the couple of feet remaining, but his nervousness throws him off.

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Religion to try to modify the summoning of Frank to match Eltain's velocity: (1d20+22)[35]

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

Pavick rushes over to the edge of the nest, being careful to avoid the eggs, to watch as his allies fell. It was horrible, feeling helpless as they dropped, but his mind raced trying to come up with ways to help.

He shouted out to Eltain. "Eltain, Frank is falling with you now. Forget trying to clambor on top of him, just teleport there. Should be easy enough now, just account for the natural flow of arcane energy along the tree." He goes on in detail about exactly how to go about twisting the energy to suit the paladin's needs. "I know you can do it!"

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Trying to give Eltain advice on his situation to help him teleport on to Frank. I guess this would probably count as another Arcana Check - (1d20+32)[49]

[Mando Knight]

Aramil wished, for a moment, that this were one of the worlds in which one as practiced in magic as he would be able to simply cast a spell and make this falling nonsense a mere minor nuisance.

He couldn't help that now, anyway. All he had was his sword, and his magic. And an idea. A brilliantly stupid idea: his lightning could pull things toward him... but what about the opposite? Could he say, reverse the charge, and fire blasts of magical lightning to force the air (and the ground) beneath him away? It was worth a try...
Arcana - (1d20+27)[28]

[Hzurr]

DM Post

---Zyrr---

It takes Zyrr a moment to come to his senses as his ears ring from the explosion. When he finally shakes it off, he sees a gaping hole about him that Asheroth is jumping out of, carrying one of the Eladrin with him.

"Well...this didn't turn out quite like I'd hoped" the drow mutters, before grabbing one of the Eladrin. "Hang on, this might be a huge mistake." Zyrr jumps out, bouncing from branch to branch til he finds one stable enough to support them both.

Acrobatics: (1d20+23)[40]

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Gliding through the air, Lucan manages to land on the tumbling unicorn's back, and quickly ties the two of them together. Sending Lena out for a rope, Lucan finds himself lashed to a very strong, but very supple branch that bends down, quickly slowing Lucan's decent, before springing back into place, sending Lucan soaring up through the trees (past a very confused Aramil and Eltain). A few moments later, Lucan is once again falling.

This process continues for a while, giving Lucan a new insight into the fabled yo-yos of the jungle halflings.

Eltain, meanwhile, manages to adjust his summoning so that Frank appears just below him, following at the same speed. The celestial pegamule quickly assesses the situation, turns and looks over his shoulder at the paladin with a very flat look plastered across his face. Eltain struggles to mount the pegamule, but a quick shout of advice and magical jiggering from Pavick sets him right, and Eltain finds himself still falling, but in control and on the back of a creature with giant angel wings. All in all, a fairly winnable situation.

OOC: Eltain has one success, you'll need at least one more to fly to safety.

Aramil, in a flash of inspiration that would do his professors proud, comes up with a brilliant idea on how to reverse the effects of one of his spells to propel him. It's such a brilliant idea, that Aramil doesn't pause to consider the actual force of the propellant. In a flash of light, Aramil flies towards one of the trees, smacks into it with a wet *thud*, and bounces off, falling again. It takes Aramil a moment to shake off the great success/abysmal failure of the event, and when his head clears he's still plummeting towards the ground.

OOC: Aramil has one failure. Another one like that, and he'll hit the ground. Hard.

Asheroth sets the old woman down, and immediately begins soaring back up towards the construct, Keezle at his side. There are two Eladrin remaining, and while they visibly recoil at the sight of Keezle, they've seen Asheroth fight and save their allies, so they tentatively move closer to the Tiefling. Even as Asheroth sets foot in the construct, the entire structure groans, and shifts from it's position in the trees.

Saving throw for the construct: (1d20)[16]

OOC: The construct is stable, for now, but it could go at any minute. Asheroth can either try and carry both, or he'll need to convince one of the remaining Eladrin to go with Keezle.

[Orsik Vondal]

Seeing the looks on their faces as Keezul enters, Ash knows he must rely on the devil to not be his normal self. He turns to the eladrin furthest from him with a determined look on his face.

"Right now you are going to have to trust me. This is Keezul. He will take you to safety. I have no other solution right, so I beg you to trust in me." Ash glares at Keezul. "And if he lets any harm come to you, he will answer to me. Permanently."

Keezul's eyes widen with understanding. "Yes, Master. What do you need me to do?"

"Use your spikes to create a stairway around the trunk of the tree that he can use to escape. Shadow him until he gets to a safe branch to make sure he does not fall. After that, come find me."

With that Ash picks up the eladrin man and jumps out of the construct once more. Now that he knows the toughness of the tree he can better account for the descent. On his way down the eladrin in his grip grumbles, "Good riddance. Those filthy drow are getting exactly what they deserve!"

A pang of hurt shoots through Ash's soul. I can't leave them to die...

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Diplomacy to get the eladrin to trust Keezul (1d20+29)[33]
Intimidate to scare Keezul into doing EXACTLY what Ash wants (1d20+25)[43]
Insight to judge the descent better (1d20+24)[25]